Supernatural 13×02 Review: “The Rising Son”

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The urgency of last week’s Supernatural season thirteen premiere is almost absent in this second installment, “The Rising Son.” As well it should be, too. Dean and Sam have some talking to do, and a twelve hour road trip back home gives them plenty of time to have at it. Of course, with the son of Lucifer as their tag-a-long, some supernatural interference is expected. Not to mention, good old sleep deprivation has a hand in slowing things down a bit, as the boys check in to a hotel for the night. They ward the room with the usual designs and settle down with the Winchester standard: fast food and beer. But the wards aren’t enough to keep visitors away, and their first one comes that very night, a familiar face — Donatello.

It isn’t quite clear to me why Donatello is still alive (was there something I missed? It’s possible I accidentally went too far on the fast forward on my DVR and missed the explanation), but I like this character, and it’s good to have him back. Donatello tells Sam and Dean he was led to them by a great power — Jack’s power — and informs us and Jack that Jack’s power isn’t toxic like his father’s. Point one for Sam. Actually, a lot of this episode is Sam and Dean going back and forth on who’s right about Jack, and although I’m not interested in a drawn out argument about it, there was a lighthearted tone underneath it all. Or maybe it’s as simple as Sam and Dean are actually having a conversation about it, and not yelling at each other about who’s right and why. When Sam sat Dean down and said “hey, if we’re bringing Jack home with us, we need to be on the same page,” and they actually talked it out, I was pretty impressed. These guys don’t exactly have a history of using words to sort our their problems, if you know what I mean.

Meanwhile, in apocalypse world, Lucifer and Mary make the world’s most random traveling companions. In last week’s review, I thought we weren’t going to see much of the apocalypse world, but it looks like I’m wrong about that. And that’s fine, because even though the apocalypse world is sparse with inactivity (there’s supposed to be an epic war against heaven and hell, but only a few bodies litter the ground in each scene. Chalk this one up to low budget, I suppose), Lucifer and Mary’s bickering is quite enjoyable. There’s a reason why Mark Pellegrino is Lucifer’s most consistent vessel, and it’s because he’s damn good at being Lucifer. Just in this episode, he’s sadistic, petulant, funny, exasperated, condescending, and…doting father? Even still, I love the idea of Mary and Lucifer having to rely on each other to escape apocalypse world. For Lucifer, Mary’s going to be the trade for his son, and for Mary, Lucifer’s, well, I guess better the devil you know, and all that. The two do run into a familiar face, though. Michael, who in this world, killed Lucifer. This B plot ends in Lucifer and Michael locked in the epic showdown we didn’t exactly get to see in season five.

Crowley’s corporate demons are hanging around hell, wondering if Lucifer is going to return. It’s a short scene, but it gave more character to the demon-in-suits than multiple seasons ever have. Before they can ponder long, the fourth prince of hell saunters in, introducing himself as Asmodeus (Jeffery Vincent Parise), the “new sheriff in town.” Parise is only credited for this episode on IMDB, so I’m not sure how much we’ll get of him. Which is too bad, because he seems like a different sort evil than we’ve seen before. He wants to bring back the fire and brimstone of hell, and he wants to find Lucifer and Jack. Asmodeus is pretty smart too, easily tricking Dean and Sam by shape- shifting to find Jack and kidnap him so he can use his powers to free a group of soldiers from hell called the Shedim. The Shedim come from Jewish folklore, shedim being the Hebrew word for demons or spirits. Above, I linked to the Wikipedia page about the Shedim, if you care to read up on them. I’m not sure how much the actual lore is going to play into it, since Supernatural is known to expand on the mythologies of supernatural creatures and biblical passages. But since Asmodeus wasn’t killed here, and his ultimate goal seems to be freeing the Shedim, they will most likely return this time and before Jack can close the cage on them.

I feel much better about season thirteen after “The Rising Son.” Its slower pace felt like the writers are interested in taking the time to explore the relationships forming between Sam and Jack and Dean and Jack. While Sam and Jack are clearly cool with each other, it’s the relationship between Dean and Jack that will be the most interesting to watch. Dean’s stubbornness about killing anything he believes to be inherently evil is clouding his judgement a bit, but I think he’ll be pleasantly surprised down the line. The end of this episode takes a turn for the dark, however. Jack seems awed/disgusted/scared of his rapid healing ability, so he tests it out by stabbing himself over and over again with a knife. Dean catches him, and though this scene seems a bit over the top, Dean is confronted with the possibility that maybe Jack doesn’t want to be evil, after all.

This Week’s Wayward Thoughts

Jack turns the television on in the hotel room and is fascinated by an animated cartoon that’s playing. Dean takes the remote control away, but stops when he realizes what’s on — Scooby-Doo. He laughs at it, a nostalgic look on his face. A nice, subtle set up for the Scooby-Doo crossover episode later down the line.

Alexander Calvert is great at playing the vulnerable, fish-out-of-water type. The scene where Dean asks him if he wanted to be on the other side of door, how would he do it, and Jack gets up and walks out is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on Supernatural in a while.

Donatello asks Sam and Dean if God is around when he first arrives at their hotel room. Another God name drop, not to mention Donatello is a prophet of God. I can’t help but think these are the stones being laid for Chuck’s return.

“House keeping is not going to like this.”

“Jasper, Wyoming?!”

Next week, Missouri Moseley returns! Questions, comments, concerns can be left down below in the comment section or you can tweet me @kateypretzel. See ya next week.